Mark Ruffalo Says Hollywood Stars Declined to Sign Open Letter Against Paramount-WB Merger ‘Because They’re Afraid’ the Studio Will Blacklist Them

May 7, 2026 12:48pm PT Mark Ruffalo Says Hollywood Stars Declined to Sign Open Letter Against Paramount-WB Merger ‘Because They’re Afraid’ the Studio Will Blacklist Them

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Zack Sharf

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Mark Ruffalo revealed in a new op-ed for The New York Times co-written with American Economic Liberties Project research director Matt Stoller that many Hollywood stars declined to sign the recent open letter that’s fighting to block the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger.

“The most revealing thing about that letter wasn’t the people who signed. It was the people who didn’t. Not because they disagreed — because they were afraid,” Ruffalo and Stoller write. “There are many reasons to block this deal, but we now believe the most fundamental one is what we encountered when asking artists to use their voices: fear. A deep, ugly and pervasive fear of speaking out.”

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